Every now and then Bahraini newspapers, especially the English-language ones, will run articles relating tragic stories of South-Asian laborers and their abusive employers. Today I read yet another sad story in Gulf Daily News about a Sri Lankan house maid who was not given any salary for 20 months!!! Last time I checked, forced labor without pay is slavery, which has been illegal in Bahrain for a looong time.
The article mentions that the Bahraini employer’s wife reported him to authorities for failing to pay the maid after he planned to deport her without compensating her for 20 months of slavery. The wife, a school teacher, said that what her husband was doing was wrong and against human rights. She added that she wanted to teach her “daughters that this is not how people should be treated”. It is good to know that at least someone in that family has a conscience.
One thing I would like to touch upon is Bahraini newspapers’ practice of hiding the identities of those that commit offences. In the article mentioned above, the name of the Sri Lankan made is mentioned, but not that of her employer.
Do they keep him anonymous to protect his honor? An honorable man would not cheat an honest working person of their hard earned money. May be if he is named and shamed in the press, he would think twice about swindling this poor, helpless maid of her money. If not for the sake of goodness and morality, then for the sake of keeping his name from being dragged in the gutter.
I say name and shame these criminals. People must recognize that hiring servants is a privilege and not a right. If you cannot afford to pay them or treat them like human beings then spare them the misery slaving around your household.
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